Just to say thanks for this post and the rest of your fantastic blog.

I’m really glad I was able to attend the Blackface discussion and meet you all.

Thanks for this, I’ll be telling people about it over here.

Love x

Birdie x

There has been recent public debate about black face performances and representations of race generally within the queer scene of
Sydney. There has also been controversy regarding the black face performance on Hey Hey It’s Saturday, and John Safran’s Race Relations Episode 2 (currently viewable on http://www.abc.net.au/iview).

Debates have been raging. Lets talk them out:

* Is all performance of blackface racist?
* How can we decide whether something is “racist” – artists intentions? audience interpretation?
* Does being non-racist mean I can never depict or reference outside “my” culture?
* Who is responsible (performers? audience? venues? event organisers)? What does this “responsibility” entail?
* How can we work through racism in our communities? How can we support promoters, performers, audiences who speak out against racism?

If you are a performer, audience member, event organiser or venue operator and want to reflect on your own practices in these roles – come and share dilemmas you have faced (or expect to), the questions and problems that come up for you in working out what you think is right.

Please join us for a facilitated discussion with people of all different points of view where we can explore some of the answers to these questions with mutual respect and appreciation.

Please distribute to your networks. Please RSVP to Domino and Nassim,dokta_x@yahoo.com.au the facilitators for the discussion – so we can get an idea of numbers for some materials etc. The event is free, but we ask for a gold coin donation towards the Red Rattler’s ecological sustainability plan.

Some links that you might be interested in:
How to suppress discussions of racism:
http://coffeeandink.livejournal.com/607897.html
Tone policing:
http://theangryblackwoman.com/2008/02/12/the-privilege-of-politeness/
Derailing: http://www.derailingfordummies.com/
http://www.amptoons.com/blog/archives/2005/12/02/how-not-to-be-insane-when-accused-of-racism/
Privilege:
http://theangryblackwoman.wordpress.com/2006/09/14/things-you-need-to-understand-4/
About the history of minstrel http://raceandthecity.com/

I’m so glad you raised John Safran. I am so uncomfortable with his vile attempts to enter what should be a serious discussion. And yes it is serious, we don’t have to “lighten up”, I am sure there are creative, fun ways to discuss race without resorting to racism. Just like the Pizza Boys and others before them, Safran thinks he can use his background to enter the dialogue and do it with toilet humour.

Even the gurus will agree with what is being said here. I am glad I found it….

If you could even succeed in convincing the politicians that the date needs to be changed now, which looks very unlikely, a huge number of people in the community would be disenfranchised and disagree totally. So looking at it from a macro perspective you’d be enfranchising one group whilst disenfranchising another.

What goes to the heart of it was perfectly quoted by the SMH on Jan 27 this year – “…a 30 year old Aboriginal scaffolder, Shaun ‘It’s a good Irish name’ Murphy, said the AOTY Mick Dodson was half right: we should change Australia Day’s date but ‘I don’t think it’d be worth the grief’. Non-indigenous Australians wouldn’t wear it.

After thinking through the various options there is one magic bullet for us all to move forward and embrace a new Australia Day and that is for us to become a Republic and for that day to be our new national celebration. Think about it – the PM is pro republic and the Leader of the Opposition is certainly pro republic – so we can expect that in the next year or two the possibility of it getting put to the vote again is strong.

Until then, i am always gladdened to see Indigenous people getting involved in Australia Day, whether it’s Yabun, Invasion Day events or Woggan-ma-gule, which is held at 8am at Farm Cove (where Capt Phillip landed in 1788). They can support it, challenge us and get us thinking about all the different perspectives.